bullying hen

Hi everyone...

Before I moved house and got 2 more hens I had no problems, since then it's been one problem after another...

This time I'm asking about a bullying hen.

I used to have 3 hens and I just got 2 more recently. I took the introduction slowly, first by keeping the 2 new ones in a rabbit hutch in the run of my older ones then by letting them into a temporary run inside the other's. this worked brilliantly and by the time I let them out into the run with the others they were fine, then one night the 2 new ones (Daffy and Birdie) just went to sleep in the other's coop and everyone was fine with that, all on the perches.

The next night Birdie wouldn't let anyone into the coop including Daffy. At last this was sorted and no one got pecked at bedtime. Birdie gets along fine with the others, particularly Teazel, one of my old hens who was and still is at the bottom of the pecking order. Then Daffy started to peck everyone. It is frequently the case that I find Bonnie and Dido, who used to be at the top of the pecking order, in the nest boxes because they can't get onto the perches because Daffy won't let them on.

Now it isn't only at night but through out the day and she just won't stop pecking them!!

Bonnie, Dido and Teazel (especially Bonnie and Teazel because Dido is quite small and can get away quickly) have all got severe feather damage at the top of their back and aroud their necks. I hate to see them so stressed out and all three have stopped laying with the stress.

I watched Dido go into the coop as if she wanted to lay but Daffy ran in after her and pecked her out.

Hmm... She's a bit wild, too, so seperating her out of necesity could mean I could try to tame her whilst she was on her own, the only problem is where on earth would I put her? Has anybody got any good temporary coop ideas?

I was able to get a extra large metal dog cage 3'x4' for $20 on Craig's List. It has worked great for when I have to separate out birds or when I want to add new birds. Maybe you can find something similar. Good luck!

You can easily keep her in a bigger cardboard box for a week or so until all the flock calms down a bit. If you have some chicken wire left over just use a piece of that for the cover. I actually use a smaller two shelf bookcase as a brooder. The type that can be bought at wal-mart or any discount store for less the 20 bucks.

Hi everyone, thanks for the advice it was all very useful but my Dad and I are making a special isolation coop/hospital cage which can be kept incase of an emergency which will last 'cause it can be kept outside. I had never thought of using a dog cage that's a great idea sadly I couldn't find any.. I'll keep an eye out to see if I can find one as it could be useful in future. In response for the box idea I used that last year for a different hen when she lost all her feathers from moulting because there was some freak weather and she got confused!! It worked at the time and she lived in the conservatory but now there isn't space in there so the coop seemed to be the best idea. Thanks everyone for the advice!